Something Blue

I got my official wedding shoes in the mail today.

I decided to double up on the purpose of the wedding shoe to serve as...well, my shoe and as my "something blue" for the day.

I bought the white version of the Converse Jack Purcell's in Chicago a couple of Decembers ago. I was told those wouldn't work, because they're slightly worn. But, I'm not scared to get another pair of comfy shoes if the opportunity presents itself.

A couple of weekends ago, Mom flew to Lubbock and we ran wedding errands. Before she left, we ordered these from JCrew.com. She told me I couldn't wear them until Aug. 22, so I guess I will leave them in the box until then.

However, unlike the popular bridesmaid dress myth, I can actually wear these after the wedding.

We all know there's no way I can wear frilly heels or anything remotely close to that, and attempt to walk up stairs in a church. I'm going to save myself and my handsome groom that embarrassment.

It kind of reminds me of the scene in The Sandlot, when Benny has to go get the Babe Ruth autographed ball back from "the Beast" and he puts on his brand new PF Flyers.

I don't intend on running at all on Aug. 22, but I do like the idea of bringing out the brand new pair of kicks straight out of the box for a special purpose.

Using Our Resources

Efficiency (noun): effective operation as measured by a comparison of production with cost (as in energy, time and money).

Byron and I are big fans of efficiency. While we aren't always great examples of efficiency, we at least try to practice it as much as possible.

I'm also a big fan of Photoshop actions. They're the little tricks a lot of the modern wedding photographers are using. You've probably seen them in use on my blog. I got the idea and a few free actions from Pioneer Woman. If you don't read her blog, you really should. I purchased an action package online from Totally Rad Actions the other day with the intentions of being efficient with our engagement photographs.

We have booked an excellent photographer for our wedding and for my bridal portraits. Take a look at Cristy Cross. She's got some great ideas, and I've been really impressed with her work.

However, for the traditional engagement photographs, we went the efficient route - we dragged Byron's dad, Norvelle, out into the streets of Lubbock yesterday to do an amatuer engagement photo shoot and utilize our resources. However, Norvelle is no amatuer. He's a professional sports photographer for Texas Tech athletics. He's had some of the greatest shots in Texas Tech sports history, including Michael Crabtree's clutch touchdown catch last year against Texas. Check him out. He's the man.

So, the idea here was to combine Norvelle's eye for photography and his equipment with my Photoshop actions to create a collection of engagement photos.

I should also mention that Byron absolutely HATES having his picture made. But, he was a trooper.

This is the first of a series of shoots we're going to try. Lubbock's downtown area has some great backdrops for this style of photograph.


This was Byron's idea...


This was my idea.





We felt rather cheesy taking this one (above). Almost as cheesy as it looks.


Cathy's Restaurant was a great spot. I've never eaten there, but I'm sure it's tasty. Way to paint your walls red, Cathy.


Again, this one was Byron's idea. I will call this our engagement potty.







Norvelle did a fabulous job with out "downtown" shoot. Stay tuned for more down the road.

Blowing Snow

The weather in West Texas never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday we reached a high of around 80 degrees. Last night at 11:30 it was 65. This morning at 7:30am it was 35 degrees with 40 mph winds and drizzle. Two hours later, it was 25 degrees and there was an inch of snow on the ground and blizzard-like conditions.

In the blink of an eye, it went from a tranquil spring day to Antarctica.

Blowing snow isn't something I was accustomed to in Arkansas. We used to get a descent snow about once a year. Those were some good times. When the snow fell, it was peaceful and almost silent outside.

When it snows here, it's a blizzard. The wind blows a constant 30-40 mph per hour and the cold cuts through you like a knife.

These pictures make it look way too calm. Honestly, it was the only time I really wanted to step outside with a camera. Every other time, the wind would have blown the camera out of my hands.

By noon, the sun was out. The wind was still violent, but the sun was shinning. It was much colder outside than it looked.

By 3pm, the clouds returned, and it was snowing again.

Whenever the weather changes so quickly out here, it makes me think of what it would have been like to live out on this prairie a hundred or more years ago. There was no way to tell if the weather was going to drop 50 degrees in the course of 12 hours. That had to have been rough. The wind with temperatures like this would have killed someone.

Here's the latest weather advisory to illustrate what's happening since I don't have pictures of actual blowing snow, dancing across Interstate 27. I've highlighted the important parts. If you don't live in West Texas, then read your own weather advisory.

Issued by The National Weather Service
Lubbock, TX
11:59 am CDT, Fri., Mar. 27, 2009

... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING.

LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOWFALL WILL COMBINE WITH STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS NEAR 50 MPH TO RESULT IN HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS DURING THE DAY FRIDAY. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL APPROACH 1 TO 3 INCHES... PARTICULARLY FOR AREAS FROM MORTON TO LUBBOCK TO RALLS. FURTHER SOUTH ALONG AREAS FROM DENVER CITY TO POST... SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL LIKELY BE ON THE ORDER OF 1 INCH OR LESS BUT THE STRONG NORTH WINDS WILL STILL MAKE TRAVEL HAZARDOUS. THE SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED TO TAPER OFF BY EARLY EVENING WITH NO SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED TONIGHT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW MEANS THAT SNOWFALL AND COMBINED WITH VISIBILITIES BECOMING SIGNIFICANTLY LIMITED DUE TO STRONG WINDS AND BLOWING SNOW WILL RESULT IN HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS. TRAVEL IS DISCOURAGED.

... A DANGEROUS WINTER STORM ACROSS THE SOUTH PLAINS AREA TODAY AND LINGERING INTO TONIGHT...(I think the word "lingering" makes it sound dramatic, don't you think?)

A STRONG STORM SYSTEM IS BRINGING MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES... STRONG NORTH WINDS AND SNOWFALL TO THE SOUTH PLAINS AND EXTREME SOUTHERN PANHANDLE. THE TRACK OF THE UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE AND NORTHERN SOUTH PLAINS WHILE LOCATIONS ACROSS THE ROLLING PLAINS AND SOUTHERN SOUTH PLAINS WILL SEE LIGHTER SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. NORTH WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WILL PRODUCE NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WHEN COMBINED WITH AREAS OF HEAVY SNOW AND HAZARDOUS OR DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS ACROSS ALL OF THE AREA. SNOW WILL LIKELY LINGER (there it is again!) ACROSS THE EXTREME SOUTHERN PANHANDLE AND NORTHERN SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS TONIGHT.

Bloody Knees

You'll have to excuse my last few entries for their grotesqueness - snakes, dresses, and now blood.

Last night was our first city league softball game. It was also my first softball game in three years. I bought a new glove, cleats and an Underarmor baseball jersey.

I've never been accused of being a good softball player. I grew up on the hardwood shooting three pointers. But, I love sports, and as I mentioned in a previous post, I'm marrying into a softball-loving family. While I was well aware that my fielding skills could use some work, I didn't think that base running would be a problem for me.

I was on first base last night with Byron hitting behind me. He hit an in-the-park home run, so, I took off running for home as fast as I could. I rounded second base, then third. I could hear Brett yelling for me to run on home. About three strides into the run for home plate, my legs forgot to keep running. The rest of my body was still in full motion, but I my legs just flat out quit.


I slid, eating some dirt - nothing out of the ordinary for a softball game. However, I wasn't even close to home plate. I have no idea why I fell. I just did. I got up and crossed home plate. At this point, Byron was right behind me.

I now had two bloody knees and a lot of dirt in my underwear.

The next inning, I was playing catcher. The ball hit home plate, bounced up, then hit me in the shin.

To make matters worse, we lost by one run. Mind you, we were one player short, but we should have won.

Thank goodness for Byron and Brett's first aid - a bottle of rubbing alcohol, some gauze pads and athletic tape.

Wearing dresses

Honestly, I never really thought about what my wedding would be like until Byron asked me to be his bride a little over a month ago. I've always been the type to look forward to the marriage more than the wedding day.

I've never really even gotten into weddings. When I was a little kid, that usually meant I would have to wear a dress, which meant I would sulk about it days before the wedding. I hated wearing dresses. I still don't get too excited about it.

My mom used to make really elaborate bows - a common accessory of the 80s and 90s. While most little girls would love nothing more than a giant bow on their head, I found it more to be torturous than accessorizing. I would have rather worn a dead skunk on my head instead of a bow.

Mom had made a nice bow to match the dresses Natalie and I were going to be wearing to someone's wedding. Now, I was a relatively quiet kid. The only time I really got upset was when I had to wear a dress. On this particular occasion, I made a complete butthead of myself. I refused to wear the dress and the bow. There was absolutely no way I was going to wear it. I think I made a big enough stink about it that I went to the wedding wearing something else.

Looking back, the dress nor the bow were all that bad. In fact, it was quite stylish for kiddos in the early 90s.

Granted, my tastes have changed somewhat since I was a little Lindsay. I have sported a few dresses here and there in my professional life - but just a few, of course.

So, now I'm at that point in a girls life when they most definitely have to wear a dress. A big, fluffy, heavy dress.

My mom came to town this weekend and we went dress shopping. The bridal store was full of cooing women with too much makeup and big hair looking at dresses or at a bride as she tried on dresses.

I don't mind wearing a nice wedding dress on my wedding day. That's part of the ceremony and the whole process. That really doesn't bother me one bit. I think everyone wants to be able to take their groom's breath away on that day. (I might need a little P90X action from that exercise infomercial to do that, but I'll try at least.)

The part I have a hard time with is spending excessive time looking at dresses. That is likely why God made things work out the way they did. We bought the first dress I tried on.

That has often been the trend for me. I bought the first house I looked out. The first car I test drove. If it caught my eye right off, then chances are, that's what I will like the best.

I did try on a few other dresses, but after having them pulled over my head a couple times, I decided that was enough of that.

I have a hard time describing the dress when people ask me. I mainly want to say, "Well, it looks like a wedding dress." I'm physically incapable of describing it. I don't know how, nor do I know the lingo. I didn't realize there was a name for being able to hitch up the train after the ceremony. I actually thought I was going to have to drag that sucker around the whole night, which made me quite nervous.

I can describe, however, what my shoes will look like. That's much easier for me. My shoes will be Converse Jack Purcells. They're navy (something blue). They're comfortable. Plus, there's less risk in me falling or tripping. Even better, I can wear them when the wedding is over.

Evil Reptiles

Ray Wylie Hubbard sings a song called "Snake Farm" -

Snake Farm, it just sounds nasty
Snake Farm, pretty much is
Snake Farm, it's a reptile house
Snake Farm, ewww, ewww

I hate snakes with a passion, and Ray Wylie Hubbard is right - EWWW! It's a paralyzing fear. I have a hard time even watching them on TV.

So, it would make sense that I would go to an event that celebrates the mass collection of one of the deadliest snakes in the world.

I saw more snakes in one place than I ever care to see EVER again.


The annual Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup is a nationally known event. I've been told in it's earlier days, ESPN even used to cover the event. Crazy loons spend several weeks prior to the second weekend in March "rounding up" these terrible villains for pride and honor.

There are thousands of huge rattlesnakes brought in from West Texas. There are prizes awarded to the longest snake, the heaviest snake, and probably for the worst snake bite wound.

Besides the snakes, the Roundup is full of some interesting characters. In fact, if anyone ever makes a snide remark about Arkansas again, I will simply say "Sweetwater, Texas" and that should cover it.

Byron made the comment he was more worried about getting bit by the people there than the snakes. The deepest "holl'r" in Arkansas could not hold a candle to these folks.

There are also gazillions of nick knacks for purchase at the Roundup - from a pickled snake head to a nice, full-bodied stuffed rattler. In fact, there are even rattlesnake skin slap bracelets. Remember those from the 80s?


There were also nice large, gawdy graphic t-shirts.

There was a "safety and handling" demonstration at the Roundup. This crazy loon taught us how to pick up the slithering pieces of evil.


He also flopped a balloon in front of it until it got mad enough to strike it. Watch it here.

This was likely the smartest thing I've ever watched...

This guy (below) was skinning rattlesnakes for them to fry and sell to hungry people at the Roundup. I did not partake in this feast.


To make the weekend even more memorable, following our time at the Roundup, we stopped by the Crossroads Baptist Church in Rotan, Texas - the church Byron grew up in - for their winter revival. While snakes are not a typical part of Baptist revivals, this particular revival experience concluded for me when Glen Copeland asked me to come outside and see what was in the back of his car.

Glen Copeland is somewhat of a West Texas legend. He has a gun collection that would rival the US Army, and has a history of catching snakes and storing them in a pit in his barn for the Roundup. He's one of those characters that is hard to forget.

Glen knew of my intense fear of snakes. He also knew I had been to the Roundup for the first time.

When he asked if I wanted to call his bluff that there was a rattlesnake in the back of his car, I knew better than to say yes.

So, following the revival, we gathered in the parking lot to see just what exactly Glen had in his car.


Sure enough, he had a rattlesnake in a large pretzel jar in the back of his car.



When he opened the back of the car, you could hear the rattle of the snake. It was at that point that I took about 8 big step back. Glen then asked if we wanted to see how you catch a snake. I could see where this was going, so I took about 10 more steps back.

Glen proceeded to dump the rattlesnake on the ground of the Crossroads Baptist Church parking lot.

The snake immediately coiled up and acted like it wanted to kill us all. I believe it even struck at Glen's unprotecting loafers a couple of times. This snake was obviously very mad. Of course, I would probably be mad, too, if someone had stuffed me in a Sam's pretzel jar.


Then, Glen bent down and picked up the snake by its head like it was a toy or something. Byron took my camera and got a little too close for my comfort (not to me, but to the snake). I could just see the evil reptile latching on to his arm or something.

Then Glen stuffed the snake back in the jar and put it back in his car. I then went and checked under every seat in my car.

Peanuts in the news...again

Just when we thought things might calm down a little bit, peanuts were back in the media yesterday. Members of our board are in DC this week talking to legislators about how the product recalls have had an impact on our industry.

I did another interview yesterday with the ABC station here in town, which has been great about contacting us for interviews. Their main angle was to follow up a month after the initial recalls occurred.

Click here to watch.

I hope to have a lot of these videos uploaded to YouTube in the near future.

Meanwhile, keep eating peanut butter!

America's Game

It's softball time.

I've never been much of a softballer, but as of this spring I am.

(Byron hates being in the spotlight, but he'll likely be a big part of my blog posting from now on.)

Anyway, America's game is his favorite. Close your eyes Byron. The guy tied the Texas high school state record back in his glory days at Rotan High School for the most home runs hit in a single game - four home runs. He was an all-state baseball player.

Obviously, he loves the game.

So, now - softball is his game. I can't play Tech intramurals with him until after we're married when I can piggyback on his Texas Tech ties, but I can play on our city league softball team. That may be a good thing, because the last time I played TTU intramural flag football, I led the league in penalties for knocking people down. Apparently, that's illegal in flag football.

Byron claims that long before we started dating when our teams met on the flag football field a couple years ago, I spiked the ball on him after he accidentally tackled me. I was running a quarterback sneak and we got tripped up. He says I got up and spiked the ball on him. I say I got up and helped him up and went on to the next play. I believe he and his friends who were at the game have sensationalized the story over the years. Regardless, my team won the game.


Brett (above, right) is Byron's roommate. Brett loves sports, too. He loves it so much that he made a career out of it as the TTU Intramural Coordinator. Brett's a solid guy. In fact, after we're married, we've considered building him a little apartment connected to our house.

And here's Young James. I didn't gave him that name, but it stuck in my mind when someone else did. James is a heck of a pitcher.

Perhaps I will post pictures of our city league outings after this week. I have to get contacts soon, or otherwise I won't be able to see the ball coming at me. I don't think they allow glasses on the field, so I may be in trouble this week.